A Thin Line
by blackend
Summary: Complete! Mattie and Reid have been friends since college. When a case brings them together, they might just discover that the line between friendship and love is sometimes thinner than they thought. ReidOFC
1. Chapter 1: A Twist

**A Thin Line**

**A/N: This idea has been floating around in my head for a while. It's finally gotten on paper. YAY! I hope everyone who reads enjoys it. Thanks to REIDFANATIC for Betaing this story. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. **

**Chapter 1: A Twist**

"_The road to a friend's house is never long" Danish proverb _

--

Reid made his way into the conference room. He sat down in one of the chairs and took one of the files from JJ. He read all the information in a matter of minutes. It was one of the benefits of being able to read twenty thousand words a minute.

"Last week, a fire broke out at a swim meet in Boston. At first, local officials thought that it was the wiring in the building. Then last night this happened." JJ pressed a button on the remote and a clip began to play. It was another swim meet, but this time the doors to the pool were locked and fire started from the water. JJ paused the clip. "Twenty people were killed and forty were seriously injured."

"Do they know what started the fire?" Morgan asked as he studied the frozen image on the screen.

"Chemicals of some kind. It is still being worked at in the lab."

"It looks like we're going need to call in a consult." Hotch said more to Gideon than the group. Gideon nodded.

"What consult?" Morgan asked. They had had cases with bombs before. They hadn't had a consult before. _Why now?_

"A Chemistry Professor at M.I.T. She helps out the B.A.U. with more complicated chemical bombs and fires every once and a while."

"JJ, is there a note of any kind?" Prentiss asked.

"No."

"Everyone the jet in thirty minutes." Hotch said.

--

Reid hadn't thought much of the consult that the team was going to need, until they actually arrived at the university. It was then that something occurred to Reid. Two of his best friends worked there. Reid took a sip of his coffee contemplating too many things.

"Who is this consult?" Morgan asked Hotch.

"Professor Matilda Adams." Right at that moment, Reid started to cough.

"Are you okay Reid?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah." He turned to Hotch. "Are you sure that the consult is Matilda Adams?"

"Yes. Do you know her?"

"Yeah." Reid said, with an extremely pale face.

Morgan slightly laughed. "What do you have a crush on her or something?"

"Actually, he was too busy pining over Christine Evans to even notice Mattie." A voice came from behind Reid. The team turned around to see a blonde man with a leather jacket on.

Reid looked at the man. "David! It wasn't like I was the only person hung up on Christine Evans the whole school was."

"That's true. It's good to see you man." David and Reid quickly exchanged a hug.

"Same here." Reid turned to the rest of his team. "Everyone, this is Dr. David Marks we went to college together with Matilda Adams."

"Nice to meet you." Hotch said.

"Are you heading down to Mattie's lab now?" David asked.

"Yes we are. Would you mind showing us where to go?" Gideon asked.

"Sure, I was actually heading down that way myself. I need to fix her printer again."

Reid slightly laughed. "I can't believe Mattie still has trouble with computers."

"Yeah, either can I, but they are Windows. Mattie has always been a Mac person." David said as he started to lead the team towards the lab. "Spencer, you do realize she is going to kill you if she sees the coffee right?"

"I had actually forgot about that." Reid took the last sip of his coffee before dumping the rest in the trash.

"What's with the coffee?" Morgan asked.

"Mattie has this theory that geniuses function better on tea than coffee."

"Well, how many geniuses does she know?"

"Well, she is not as smart as Spencer, but she is the only person to ever surpass him in a class. She's just one of those extremely smart people."

"Hey, is Amy still working for her?" Reid asked, changing the subject. He didn't need to be reminded of how Mattie put him in his place in that Chemistry class. It was because of Mattie that Reid never majored in Chemistry. To say the least, he still held a slight grudge against her.

"Yup."

"How old is she now?"

"Twenty-three." Reid shook his head in disbelief. He remembered meeting Amy when she had started working with Mattie. Amy was only nineteen at the time. They stopped outside a lab. "Warning, she's probably blaring music."

As they entered the lab, they discovered David was right. Pop Rock music was playing. Reid knew the song. He could not recall how though.

"I'm turning it up." The woman turning up the radio looked about twenty-three. She was thin and had short violet hair. She turned up the music and went back to the five books she was reading. Reid smiled; it was the five-book system.

The lab was nice and spacious. If anything, it looked more like a loft than an actual lab. The only things that actually made it look like a lab were the chemicals and equipment in the room.

"Reid, why don't you go ahead of us, since you know Professor Adams." Hotch said.

"Okay." Reid said.

He walked over to a woman who was in an office with a glass window in the lab. The door was already cracked open. Inside a slender brunette woman was running titrations on a few acids while also typing something into a computer. He gently walked into the room and smiled. Mattie's foot was counting out the beats of the music.

"Hey David, it's the computer in the other room that isn't printing. This one is fine."

Reid was standing directly behind Mattie and was about to touch her shoulder, but he could not help but laugh at her last comment.

Mattie knew that laugh; it was not David's. It was Spencer's laugh. She turned around, screamed, jumped up, and wrapped her legs and arms around Spencer. It was lucky that Reid did not fall down. He had not been expecting such a greeting from Mattie. "I can't believe you are here Spencer!"

"It's nice to see you too Mattie." Reid said. He felt so relaxed. It was comforting. He even closed his eyes because he was so relaxed.

The team, who was watching from the outside of the glass room, was surprised by what they saw. Reid had a woman with her arms and legs wrapped around him. "Wow." JJ said as she spoke the entire team's thoughts.

Mattie felt how Spencer's grip on her was tight. It was as if he needed her. He needed something to hold on to and for physical and emotional reasons. "Spencer… Is everything okay?" Mattie asked in almost a whisper.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?" Reid lied. Mattie had always been able to tell when something was wrong with Spencer. He only hoped that she believed his lie. He thought she did when she tightened her grip on him and held him very close.

When a bell from a timer went off both Mattie and Spencer lightly jumped out of their skins. "Put me down."

Spencer instantly put Mattie down and she started to rush around her lab. She quickly replaced the neutralized acids with new acids. She put each of the neutralized acids into one of the many test tubes. Mattie then put the test tube in a machine that mixed the acids together and analyzed the solution.

The analyzed information started to flash and run on Mattie's computer. Mattie pressed the print button and the information started to print from a printer in the main lab. The woman with purple hair in the main lab grabbed the paper and started to look over the information. She went over to a white board with a bunch of equations and wrote another on the board. She started to balance it when Mattie and Spencer walked out of the lab. Mattie looked at the equation. "You're balancing the equation wrong."

"What?" The woman with purple hair asked.

"Balance everything else first. Leave the Hydrogen and Oxygen for last. Remember your basics." The woman followed Mattie's advice the equation balanced perfectly. "See."

"It's official, I hate Chemistry."

"No you don't. If you hated Chemistry, you would not do work for me."

"I should just go back to Physics."

"Well, that's always an option, but you have a Chemistry final next week. Go study."

"You're evil." The woman said as she sat down and started to read a book.

"Sure Amy." Mattie said with a smile. Mattie then looked at Hotch and the rest of the team. "Sorry to keep you waiting. How may I help you?"

Hotch put out his hand. "Hi I'm Agent Hotchner from the BAU."

"Nice to meet you Agent Hotchner. I got the call from your department right before you arrived. The message I got was very brief on details, would you mind telling me what this is about?" Mattie asked.

"There have been some chemical fires happening at swim meets in the area. The Bureau recommended you from some previous work you've done with us Dr. Adams."

"Okay. If we are going to be working together, there are a few rules I have. First, my name is Mattie. No one calls me Dr. Adams unless I am their professor. Second, if you want to play a CD it cannot be rap or hip-hop. If you have to smoke, go outside. We don't need this place blowing up."

"Is that it Dr—" Mattie had her death glare on. "Mattie. Is that all?" Hotch asked.

"Yes. I see you've met David already." Mattie turned to the woman studying. "That's Amy Long." Amy waved as she turned a page on each of the five books. She did not even look at the group. "You'll have to excuse her, she's studying for her finals."

Morgan looked at Amy. Something about her reminded him of Reid. She had that type of child innocence to her. He waved to her, but Amy just glared at him. She stood up and left the lab.

"Did I do something wrong?" Morgan asked when Amy was gone.

Mattie smiled. "No, that is Amy. She is painfully shy around strangers. It took two years for her to have a conversation with me."

Mattie turned to the rest of team, She was able to identify them all by the descriptions in the letters she had received from Spencer. He did not write as often as he used to, but she still did receive a letter, postcard, email, or call every once and awhile. Mattie knew Spencer was busy, so she was not bothered by his infrequent contacts.

After the introductions, Mattie started to ask questions about the case. With the help of Morgan talking to Garcia, Mattie was able to get a copy of the short recording of the fire. Mattie looked at the film repeatedly. The team watched Mattie. They saw how she was studying the chemical reaction that was taking place.

Mattie walked over to the white board, wiped it clean, and began to work the basics of a complex chemical equation. David and Reid were used to Mattie's behavior of getting 'trapped' in chemical equations. Reid motioned to Gideon. "She's going to be at it for awhile."

Gideon nodded. He knew what Reid meant. Gideon was able to get the attention of rest of the team and they left for the station.


	2. Chapter 2: History

**Chapter 2: History**

"_We're both looking for something. We've been afraid to find. It's easier to be broken. It's easier to hide." Lifehouse, First Time_

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Reid walked into the lab and found it to be empty, except for Amy. He looked at her and smiled. Reid approached the young woman, who was reading, "Hi Amy."

"Hi, Dr. Reid," Amy said as she turned a page in her book.

"Your hair is a different color again. The last time I saw you it was red."

"I needed a change."

Reid nodded his head. "So, where is Mattie?"

"In a meeting with the head of the department," Amy looked at the clock on the wall then back at her book. "Either the meeting is going extremely well or incredibly bad." A moment later, the lab door closed, slammed with a bang, Mattie walked over to the glass lab, and let out a scream.

Reid slightly jumped at Mattie's surprising scream. "I'm going to take that as a bad sign."

Amy looked at Reid, "Oh yeah." She closed her book, got up, and went to get some chemicals out of the cabinet. "You should probably go get the information you need from her now. Who knows, she might just lose it and accidentally blow this place up." Reid slightly scoffed and went to talk to Mattie.

"Hi." Reid said as he walked into the glass lab. Mattie was doing a qualitative analysis on some chemicals.

Mattie looked at Reid and smiled, "Hey handsome. What's going on?"

"Not too much. We're almost ready for a profile. Do you have any information for us?"

"Possibly," Mattie said, but Reid could tell by her expression that she meant yes. She clicked a button on her computer. It replayed the film clip. "What do you see?"

"Flames, fire," Reid wasn't completely sure what he was supposed to be looking for.

"Obviously, come on, look closer." Mattie liked challenging Reid.

Reid took a second look. He saw it now. "The flames are burning down instead of up."

"Exactly, the gas is heavier than air. The most obvious gas would probably be propane."

Reid opened his cell and dialed Garcia. "Hi Garcia, could you possibly look at any reports of large amounts of propane gas gone missing? Thanks." Reid hung up. "She's going to look into it."

"Okay." Mattie noticed how Reid looked at her. It was slightly unnerving. "What?"

Reid smiled and shook his head, "Nothing."

Mattie slightly laughed. "I hope you know that you are strange."

"I tell myself that everyday." This only made Mattie laugh more. Reid stopped looking at Mattie with that expression on his face that made her uncomfortable. "So, what was the scream about?"

"Ugh! You heard that?" Reid nodded his head. "The department is making cuts. I over-reacted. I'm just going to have a little less funding to work with."

"How much are you losing?"

"Around fifty thousand," Reid's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "It's not too bad considering, but still I could have used that money on new equipment."

"Yeah, lab supplies are never cheap." Reid's cell rang. It was Garcia. "Hi Garcia, okay. Thanks."

"So?" Mattie asked as Reid closed his cell.

"There was an incredibly high amount of propane that disappeared. I should probably call the team and let them know."

"Yeah," Reid turned to leave. "Spencer, anyone who could create that type of explosion knew what they were doing. There are so many chemicals that the person would have to deal with."

"How complicated of a chemical equations is this?"

"On a scale of one to ten, it's about a nine. I understand it, but that's because I work with chemistry on a daily basis."

"Let me call Hotch." Spencer replied.

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Hotch and the team walked into the lab, where Amy, Mattie, and Reid were standing around a white board. Mattie finished writing something down on the board with a marker. "That is one complex equation," Amy remarked.

Mattie nodded her head as she turned around to see the team. "Hi."

"What does all of that mean?" JJ asked as she pointed to the board.

"Ah… Well, it's easier to explain that with a demonstration." Mattie walked over to one of the cabinets and grabbed out two clear glass-baking pans and liquid soap. Mattie placed all of her supplies on a table with a sink and gas lines attached. She put some soap in the bottom of the baking pans and water over it, then took one of the gas lines, put it in the soapy water, and turned it on while Amy started to prepare the other baking pan.

"So the gas that is in this baking-pan is propane while the gas in Amy's dish is methane." Mattie turned off the gas and took the line out. "You might want to stand back." Mattie took a stick out, lit it, and put it next to the bubbles. The bubbles went up in flames, burning up. "Chemicals that are lighter than air burn up while chemicals that are heavier than air burn down." Mattie lit the stick and put it next to the bubbles in the second baking pan. The bubbles burned down this time.

Mattie went over to the board and started to write an equation down. "This equation explains what happened in the first chemical reaction. The numbers in front of the compounds on the left side of the equation are how much of each substance is needed to make the reaction happen."

"Then the right side is how much of the substance is created." JJ said with uncertainty. It had been awhile since she had taken a chemistry class.

"Exactly," Mattie went back to the original equation. "All we have to figure out is how much of each chemical was in the pool."

"What chemical do you think was used in the fire?" Hotch asked.

"My bet would be on Propane. It's not that hard to acquire, plus look at the clip that Garcia sent me." Mattie clicked the mouse and her computer showed the fire that had taken place. "Look at the flames. Whatever gas it is, it has to be heavier than air. I'd probably be able to narrow it down if I had samples from the fire." Mattie looked at Gideon and Hotch. She was asking for the permission to go to the crime scene. Typically on cases, Mattie stayed in the lab doing all of the lab work.

"Morgan you and Mattie can go check out the crime scene." Hotch said.

"Thank you." Mattie said. She turned to Morgan. "We are taking my car and I'm driving."

"Should I be nervous?" Morgan asked more to Reid than Mattie.

Reid smiled. "Have fun." He patted Morgan on the shoulder, then looked at Mattie. "Don't scare Morgan too much."

"That's mean." Mattie said. She turned to Morgan. "Let me get my bag, then we can go. Don't worry; I'm not going to kill you or anything." Mattie said noticing how nervous Morgan looked.

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Morgan was extremely uneasy as he sat in the passenger seat of Mattie's car. On cases, he always liked to drive. "Are you okay?" Mattie asked as they were driving down a street.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just confused on how I'm not driving."

Mattie smiled and nodded her head. "So, what do you want to know?"

"Sorry."

"Come on, how many times have you seen a girl wrap her legs around, let alone hug Spencer? You have to have some questions. Silence didn't kill the cat."

Morgan had to admit that Mattie did have a point. "Okay, you've got me. You wrapping your legs around Reid was definitely a surprise."

When Morgan didn't say anything, Mattie said, "Spencer and I met in college. We were the two youngest freshmen. I was sixteen at the time he was fourteen."

"Wow. You guys have known each other a long time. Where does David fit into all of this?"

"Well, David was a junior when we were freshman. He was also the R.A. on our floor. Spencer's dorm room was a few rooms down from mine."

"It must have been strange being so smart and young around everyone else." Morgan had never really thought about how awkward school must have been for Reid until now.

"Sort of, there was the obvious tension. Some of the students were threatened by us because we're just smarter than a lot of them, but then you meet someone like David. David didn't really care about that stuff. He just enjoyed our company and taught us the ropes."

"Were you and Reid instantly friends?"

Mattie laughed. "Oh God no, Spencer hated my guts."

"What?" Morgan asked. By the way Mattie had greeted Spencer he would never had thought was possible.

"One of the few classes we had together was Advanced Chemistry. For the entire year, I was first in the class. It drove Spencer crazy, because he has always been first and I was challenging that. No, we finally became friends right before winter finals. I needed a book from the library…"

_Sixteen-year-old Mattie walked into the library and down one of the aisles. She knew where to go. Mattie was in the library for so much of her time that she knew where almost anything could be found. She was walking past some of the tables when someone caught her eye. Sitting at one of the tables, completely absorbed in books and papers on the table was Spencer Reid. _

_Mattie knew the boy from her Advanced Placement Chemistry class. He was smart. No, he was a genius. Everyone on campus knew that. Apparently, he had been some prodigy back in high school. Mattie watched Spencer for a few moments. There was something about him that bothered her._

_Mattie went back to looking for her book and found it. She was leafing through the first couple of pages when she closed the book. Something else was distracting her. Mattie's thoughts were on Spencer. She never saw him with anyone. He was always reading or making his way to class. She thought about how he had looked at the table reading. He looked lonely._

_Mattie took her book, headed over to the table where Spencer was sitting, sat down, and started to read. She had been reading a while when she noticed that the boy across from her was watching her. His expression was hard to read. "What are you doing?" He asked her. _

"_Well, I'm sitting here reading. Is there a problem with that?"_

"_I know what you're doing. Why are you sitting here? There are a bunch of empty tables around."_

_Mattie looked around. There were about ten empty tables. "Huh. I didn't notice."_

"_Don't play stupid with me. You are obviously not."_

_Mattie put up her hands. "Sorry. Jeez, I didn't realize that I would be offending you." _

"_What do you want? I'm not going to do your homework for you."_

"_Who said anything about homework? Just to let you know, I do all of my own homework. I don't want anything."_

_Spencer was starting to get mad now. "Then what are you doing now? Why are you here?"_

"_Calm down, I'm just reading a book. If it bothers you so much, I'll go."_

_It took a few moments, but Spencer finally said, "No you can stay."_

"_Thank you." Mattie continued to read the book in front of her. She noticed that Spencer was still watching her. She smiled at him. "You're still watching me."_

"_You are an anomaly."_

"_I'll take that as a compliment. Thank you."_

_He hadn't meant it as a compliment. "Will you please tell me, why you are sitting at this table?"_

"_I thought that you looked lonely."_

"_Well, I wasn't." That was a lie._

"_Look, I don't know about you, but I don't have that many friends here and I know you aren't a fan of mine. So, if you want to…maybe we could be friends."_

"_Okay."_

"_Good." Mattie started to read her book again. Spencer just watched her. Matilda Adams, she was a strange girl._

"…So then we started to become friends." Mattie said as she pulled into the parking lot of the crime scene.

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"Did you find anything interesting in the pool?" David asked as Mattie walked into the lab. He was working on the computer.

"I got some samples. We'll see." Mattie couldn't talk about the case, but she didn't see the point in lying when David could clearly see that she had samples on her. "What's wrong with my computer?"

"Well, you were running low on memory. Plus, I was updating your virus scans and such."

"Thanks." Mattie took the samples and started to run tests on them. "David?"

"Yeah?" He noticed that something in Mattie's voice was wrong.

"Did you notice anything about Spencer that was…off?"

"Yeah, but I couldn't tell you what it was."

"I have a feeling something terrible happened." David came over to Mattie and gave her a pat on the shoulder. It was obvious that she was worried.

"Whatever it is, Spencer will bounce back from it."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah and if he needs help he's got us."

"Thanks David." Mattie bit her bottom lip she was still worried about Spencer.

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**A/N: I hope everyone is enjoying this story. I wasn't planning to put this chapter up so soon, but I couldn't help myself. In this story, I will not be quoting people. Instead, I will be quoting songs that I deem are appropriate. Well, until the next chapter. **


	3. Chapter 3: Sleeping Scars

**Chapter Three: Sleeping Scars**

"_Follow me, everything is alright. I'll be the one to tuck you in at night…" Follow Me, Uncle Kracker_

* * *

The team was growing low on energy; it was evident in their actions. They would not last the hour. "Did you have any new information?" Gideon asked.

"No. The tests on the samples I collected won't be ready until tomorrow. Sorry." Mattie answered.

"Don't apologize. You've already done a lot for the case."

"Thank you." Mattie said, even though she didn't feel like she had done enough. "Your team looks tired."

"They are low on energy. Can you recommend any good places for take out?"

It was then that an idea hit Mattie. "Actually, I know of something better." She grabbed a piece of paper and drew something out. Then she handed the paper to Gideon. He looked at her confused. "My house in an hour, I'm a good cook, just ask Spencer. Tell the rest of your team."

"Thank you."

Mattie nodded her head. She started to head home she needed to start cooking.

* * *

Mattie was sautéing the onions when there was a knock on the door. "Come on in." she yelled out.

Reid opened the door and came into her apartment. "Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"No, but you will probably tell me anyway." Reid didn't say anything to her. "Where's David? I thought you caught a ride with him."

"I did. He forgot something in his car." Reid asked his next question with hesitation. "Can I help you with anything?"

Mattie looked at him and smiled. "Sure. Why don't you put on some music first?"

Reid nodded his head. He went over to the stereo, found a mixed CD, and put it in. Upon returning to the kitchen, he asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"Bring the blue bowl on the counter over there to me." Reid did as he was instructed. He brought the bowl over that had a bunch of spices in it. "Okay, now just dump that into the pan." He dumped the spices into the pan with the chicken that Mattie had been frying. Then Mattie did something unexpected, she handed him the spatula. "Now mix the onions, spices, and chicken together."

Long ago, Reid and David had discovered that the kitchen was Mattie's domain and she did not like to share. Whenever someone tried to help her cook, Mattie would kick him or her out of the kitchen. Therefore, it was amazing that to the profiler that she was allowing him to help her cook.

They had been cooking for a little while when David came into the apartment. Mattie and Reid were so busy talking that they did not even notice him. David watched them and slightly laughed to himself. _God, they are clueless._

"Aw isn't this cute." David said to alert them to his presence. "I'm surprised at you Mattie. Are you finally learning to share?"

Mattie rolled her eyes. "Bite me."

"Touchy. I brought your CD back."

"Thanks."

"So Spencer, what do think of Mattie's apartment?" David asked.

"It's tiny compared to her other place." Reid said.

Mattie shook her head. "This place is actually bigger than my apartment in Philly."

David and Reid both looked shocked by the information. "How is this place bigger than your apartment in Philly?" Reid asked.

"Well, I have about five feet extra in the total area of the apartment, but it's not really noticeable."

Mattie's apartment was small. There was no other way to put it. There was a living/dining area, a bathroom, a small kitchen, a utility room with a washer and dryer, and a bedroom.

There was a knock on the door. "David, can you get that, please?" Mattie asked.

"Sure." David said before going to open the door. "Hi, come on in." He said to Amy, Hotch, and the rest of the team.

"Dinner is served!" Mattie announced. "Okay, there are two types of curry: very spicy and not spicy." Mattie looked at Reid as she said not spicy.

"Stop holding that against me." Reid said.

"I didn't say anything." Mattie said defending herself.

"Yeah, but I can tell you were thinking it."

"Honey, don't accuse me of thinking. That will only get you into trouble." Everyone noticed how Mattie's hand rested on Reid's shoulder and that she called him, honey. Of course, Mattie and Reid were oblivious to the interest of those around them.

* * *

"This is wonderful Mattie." Gideon said as the team was eating.

"Thank you."

"Where did you learn to cook like this?" Hotch asked. The meal was superb.

"My mom," Mattie replied.

"I remember when we went over to your house for spring break. Spencer and I tried to help your mom with the cooking." David interjected.

"Yeah, I remember she kicked us out." Reid responded.

The realization suddenly hit David and Reid and they looked at Mattie. "So that's why you always kick people out of the kitchen when you are cooking."

"Fine, I'll admit I have kitchen space issues because of my mother, but the reason isn't what you think it is."

"Oh, what is then? I thought it had to deal with the whole 1950's wife attitude. Or is it the fact that you had so many brothers and sisters." David added with a smirk.

"Nope, I only have three siblings, that's not a lot in my family." Mattie gave them a smile that said guess again.

"What was it then?" Reid asked.

Mattie looked at Reid and David "You two can't cook. That's why I never let you two in my kitchen. That or you'll make a mess of the place."

"That's the craziest thing I've ever heard." David scoffed.

"Well David, until you learn to cook without burning the food, my logic sticks." Mattie said with a smirk.

"Fine, destroy my self-esteem."

"I'm here whenever you need me to."

* * *

After the completion of a successful dinner, the team had been talking for a while when Hotch noticed the time. They needed to be getting back, but Reid and Mattie had barely started catching up. "We'll have to catch up some other time." Mattie said.

"Yeah," Spencer agreed.

Hotch and Gideon exchanged a look. They both understood each other. "Reid, why don't you catch up with Mattie and we'll talk to you later?" Gideon suggested.

Reid and Mattie looked at Gideon and Hotch then at each other. "I have a better idea. Why doesn't Spencer stay here and I'll drop him off at the hotel in the morning. I have to get into the lab early anyway." Mattie suggested.

Hotch nodded. That would work. He looked at Reid. "See you tomorrow."

Soon, it was only Reid and Mattie in the apartment. Reid tried to help Mattie by washing the dishes, but it didn't work. "You don't have to do that Spencer. That's why I have a dishwasher." Therefore, instead of washing the dishes, Reid helped Mattie load the dishwasher. After the dishes were loaded, she got out two wine glasses and poured them both a glass of wine.

Mattie sat down on the couch with her glass of wine. "You don't look too good Spencer."

"I'm fine."

Mattie could tell he was lying. "If something was wrong, you'd tell me right?"

Reid sat down on the couch next to Mattie. "Of course I would Mattie."

"You can always tell me when something is wrong. That's what friends are for."

"I know." Now that that was out of the way, they might as well move onto a new subject. "How's your family?"

"Good, my sister is getting married…again. Dad is in remission. The doctors say he'll be lucky to see next winter. The twins are graduating college this year. Besides that nothing much had changed."

"How many times will Sandy be married now?"

"This will be her third marriage. Hopefully, this guy will stick."

"What about you, are there any guys asking for your hand yet?"

"Well, there was this one guy I was dating but it didn't work out." Reid was so happy that Mattie wasn't looking at him or she would have seen the relief on his face. "What about you, any pretty women in love with Dr. Spencer Reid?"

"Nope, but I haven't given up hope yet. There is this one woman I like, but I'm too shy to say anything."

Mattie shook her head. "That's just like you, always the shy one. Don't wait too long; she'll slip through your fingers." It was then that Mattie noticed how close she was sitting to Reid. "Well, we should probably be getting to bed." Mattie finished her glass of wine, took it to the kitchen, and went over to the closet. "Are you okay with sleeping on the couch?"

"Yeah, I'm fine with that."

Mattie handed him some blankets and a pillow. "I'll see you the morning Spencer."

"Good-night Mattie."

"Good-night."

Mattie was awakened from a deep sleep to the sounds of someone whimpering. She got out of bed and went to the living room. "Spencer?"

Asleep on the couch was a whimpering Reid. "Tobias, stop please. Tobias please!" He cried out in his sleep.

Mattie was so scared she didn't know what to do. She had never seen Spencer have a nightmare like this. "Spencer, wake up." Mattie went over to the couch and patted Spencer on the shoulder. He didn't wake. "Wake up!"

Reid woke up in a cold sweat and looked up at Mattie. "Mattie." He hugged her and held onto her.

Mattie held Reid and gently rubbed his back as he cried into her shoulder. "Shh, it's okay now. It was just a dream." He let out a few deep breaths. "Better?"

Reid nodded his head and looked at Mattie. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Hey, you don't have to say sorry. You didn't do anything wrong." Mattie gently pushed the hair plastered to Reid's forehead away. "Come on, let's get you to bed." Mattie took Reid by the hand and led him to her bed.

"Mattie, what are you doing?" Reid asked as Mattie laid him down on her bed.

Mattie lied down on the bed next to Reid and put her arms around him. "Shh…"

Reid froze and turned his head to the side to look at Mattie. "Uh, Mattie…?"

"What is it babe?" Mattie asked as she ran her hand through Reid's hair.

"I'm lying in your bed."

"I know."

"That doesn't bother you."

"Spencer, don't be a prude. We've slept in the same bed before. It's not that big of a deal." It was true they had shared a bed, but not like this. Never had Mattie held him this close before. Mattie was holding him, resting her head on his chest listening to his heartbeat, running her hands through his wet hair. This was different.

"I'm not making a big deal out of anything. I'm just confused."

"Okay, I'll explain it to you then." Mattie took the hand running through Reid's hair and placed it on his chest. "We are lying in my bed and I'm holding you until you fall asleep. So close your eyes." Mattie's head laid on Spencer's chest listening to his breathing. She lifted her head and smiled. Spencer was peacefully asleep.

Then something caught Mattie's eye. There was a bruise on his collarbone. Mattie sat up, gently moved Spencer's t-shirt to the side. She saw that his chest was covered with bruises. Then she saw the track marks on his arms. Mattie's mouth dropped and her eyes widened. "What happened to you?" Mattie asked in a whisper.

* * *

Mattie woke up lying on her side, with an arm wrapped around her waist and Spencer's face buried in her hair. She was a little surprised to say the least. Without waking him, Mattie untangled herself from his arms, got up, and went to take a shower.

Reid woke up to Mattie leaning over him. "Morning, sleepy head. It's time to get up."

Reid sat up and looked around his surroundings. He was in Mattie's bed. "Uh, Mattie, this may sound crazy, but… Uh, how did I get in your bed?"

"You were having a bad dream. I woke you up and you slept the rest of the night with me." Mattie said. She didn't expect Spencer to remember getting in bed with her. He had been more than half asleep.

"Oh… Sorry about that." He honestly didn't remember any of it.

"Don't be. It wasn't a problem." Mattie smiled at him. "We should get going soon, so that I can drop you off at your hotel."

Reid got out of the bed. He noticed how Mattie was towel drying her hair. He could not help watch her. He went over to her and ruffled her hair as a joke.

"Spencer!" Mattie playfully hit him with the towel.

"What? I didn't do anything." Reid said with a guilty smile. Mattie would usually take revenge by tickling Reid, but she remembered the bruises on his chest. "What's wrong?" Reid asked noticing that Mattie had a sad expression on her face.

"Nothing," Mattie replied as she pasted a smile on her face.

* * *

As soon as Mattie got into the lab, she put on a jazz CD. She needed something that could distract her from her emotions and let her get her work done. She wrote out the new chemical equation that had come out of the samples she had collected.

A few hours later, while Mattie was balancing the equation, Amy came in with three boxes. She placed the boxes on a lab table and started to unpack them. Mattie eventually noticed Amy and the boxes. "What did we get?" Mattie asked.

"Erlenmeyer flasks, beakers, some test tubes, and refills on chemicals." Amy said as she was looking at a container with yellow stones in it. "Why did you order Iron Chlorate?"

"I needed some for an experiment."

"I thought you had enough."

"I was just restocking." Mattie said as she did the final changes on the revised equation.

Amy looked at the board and blinked a few time. "Whoa…"

"Yeah."

"It's even more complex than the original equation."

"I know… That's the scary part. We're dealing with a genius in trouble." Amy looked at the board for a final time, then went back to unpacking. Mattie knew her emotions were going to take her over soon. "Amy, I have to go talk to David about something, I'll back in an hour at most."

"Sure, whatever," Amy said. She didn't really care at the moment as she read the label on a container of Copper Acetate.

* * *

Mattie walked into a lab with a bunch of computers, one of which David was attending to. "What are you doing," she asked.

"I'm replacing a fan. What about you?" Mattie shrugged her shoulders and hopped up on the counter. David looked at her; something was obviously wrong. "What's going on?"

Mattie ran a hand thru her hair. "I honestly have no idea." Her voice was shaky and eyes glistening.

"Okay." David put the down the screwdriver he was holding.

"I thought it was something small, but I was wrong. It's worse than I could have ever imagined."

"Matilda, what happened?" David only called her Matilda when he was worried about her. His tone was serious.

Mattie took a deep breath. "Last night, I woke up to Spencer crying for help in his sleep. I woke him up and held him until he fell asleep again." Mattie paused, still shaken from the event. "His chest was covered with bruises and…" She couldn't bring herself to say it. It was too hard to believe.

"And?" David asked. He had a feeling things were about to get worse.

Mattie looked directly in David's eyes. "There are track marks on his arms."

This was worse than David could have imagined. "Oh God…"

* * *

**A/N: Well, I hope everyone found this an appropriate chapter addition. Anyways, I will try to update once a week. However, I cannot promise anything. **


	4. Chapter 4: Tell The Truth

**Chapter 4: Tell the Truth**

"_If you knew that you would find a truth that brings a pain that can't be soothed. Would you change?" Tracy Chapman, Change_

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"Did you and Mattie have a fun time last night?" Morgan asked Reid the next morning.

"Yeah, we talked and caught up. It's been awhile since I've seen Mattie so it was nice. I'm thinking about coming up here next time for vacation to visit her and David."

"So you just talked?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, why?" Reid asked. He was actually confused by what Morgan meant now.

"Come on Reid, the girl is beautiful and crazy about you."

Reid smiled and scoffed. He knew what Morgan was talking about. "Mattie doesn't see me in that way. She sees me as the shy boy who was always studying in a library."

"You're just going to let that slide, even though you are in love with her." Reid looked at Morgan shocked.

"I'm not in love with Mattie."

"Denial is always the first step. I see the way you look at her. You're spinning circles around her."

"Ah, see now you're talking about how you feel about Garcia."

"Now that's ridiculous." Morgan said as his cell phone rang. It was Garcia. "Talk to me goddess… Right… Thanks sugar."

Reid smiled. his point had just been proven and Morgan knew it. "Like I said you were talking about Garcia."

"I'm not admitting anything."

"You don't have to. You already did." Reid said with a smile.

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"Are you sure that they were track marks?" David asked as he paced in his lab. Mattie blankly looked at him. "Right, you would know what track marks would look like. You're not an idiot." David stopped pacing and sunk against the counter.

"What are we going to do?" Mattie asked.

"Does he know that you know?"

"No."

David looked at her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Her tone wasn't very believable. "It just makes me worried. Spencer is so fragile on his own. What happens if it's worse than we think?"

"We don't know what happened, that's the scary part. The best thing we can do is try and help him."

Mattie's mouth dropped as she realized what David meant. "You're not going to say anything to him."

"No." David went back to work on the computer he had been working on earlier.

"David, you can't—"

"Yes I can!" David looked at Mattie intently. He wanted her to drop the subject.

Mattie hopped down from the counter and went over David. "David, that isn't your life anymore. You haven't been that boy for a long time."

"You don't think I know that! I worked my ass off to get where I am, and I have never looked back."

"I know. I just thought that maybe you could talk to Spencer."

"Well, I'm not going to." David said harshly.

"Fine." Mattie spoke in a calm voice. "David, you have known Spencer and me for years, don't you think it's time you trusted him too?"

David looked at Mattie hard, his voice was rising. "Mattie the only reason you know about my past is because you couldn't mind your own business." Mattie looked shocked. David never raised his voice at her and his accusation was harsh. "Now get out, before I have to throw you out." She didn't need him to say anything else.

When Mattie was gone, David looked at the lab door. He shook his head and let out a deep breath. He could not look back. Everything was in the past and it needed to stay there.

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Mattie realized that David didn't like to talk about his past. She couldn't blame him, his life had been hard. She also knew she had no right to ask for David's help; she just thought he could share some advice. She would just have to take care of everything herself. It wasn't going to be easy, but Mattie was prepared for that.

Back in her lab, Mattie started to mix chemicals. Amy watched Mattie's actions and asked, appearing brash, "What are you doing?"

"I'm recreating a model of the fire."

Amy looked at her boss. "Sorry, but why are you doing that in here? There are flammable chemicals everywhere, if you haven't noticed."

"I'm mixing the chemicals in here. My model is in the Physics lab." Mattie poured the mixed chemicals into a flask and put parafilm over the top. "Are you coming?" Mattie asked as she was walking towards the door.

"Heck yeah." Amy followed Mattie out the lab and down the hall. "I'll probably feel like an idiot for asking this, but what the hell. Why are you recreating the fire, when you know what happened?"

"I know what chemicals and how they were used, but something doesn't add up."

"Yeah, that would be the psychotic burning children in a swimming pool." Mattie looked at Amy. "Right, people skills. Sorry."

"I meant chemically." Mattie said as she walked into the physics lab.

"I knew that. Did you get permission to be in the lab?"

"Yes. Do you need documentation?"

"Uh no," Amy backed off with the interrogation. "All kidding aside, why would someone burn children?"

"I'm not a profiler, that's Spencer's field of expertise." Mattie said as she poured some of the chemicals into a miniature model of a pool inside a glass box.

"It probably has to do with their childhood."

"What do you mean?" Mattie asked as she closed the glass box.

"School, getting picked on, this doesn't ring a bell at all does it?" Amy asked when Mattie looked confused.

"My siblings and I were home schooled."

"I forgot about that. In college, did people ever give you a hard time because you were younger?"

"Not exactly, people just ignored me. I didn't really notice though since I had friends. If anyone had a hard time, it was Spencer." Amy nodded her head. "Getting back to your question, I don't think a person's childhood is the whole story. Sure, it molds us, but it's up to us what we do."

"That makes sense. We can choose to become our parents or not."

Mattie was a little surprised that Amy brought up her parents. Amy didn't like to talk about her family. "How are your parents, if you don't mind me asking?"

Amy shrugged her shoulders. "They're somewhere in Europe."

"Somewhere in Europe?" Mattie asked. She knew Amy came from money.

"My mom called a week before they left. I wasn't paying attention."

"Right."

"It's not like they care if I pay attention. When I was younger, I remember coming home from school and the maid would give me a note saying, they had gone to Japan or someplace exotic."

"What would you do?"

"Give the staff the night off and make a pizza or order out."

"Weren't you lonely?"

"A little, but I was used to it by the time I was eight."

"I can't imagine that."

"See that's where the difference is. Your parents grew up, had a family, and raised you. My parents, on the other hand, had a kid and left her to be raised by nannies. By the time, I was twelve; I had had eight different nannies. It's just part of the package that comes with rich billionaire parents who don't want the responsibility of kids."

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Reid walked into the lab to find Mattie pouring over a white board. "What are you doing? I thought the test came back positive for propane."

"It did, but something doesn't add up."

"What?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Mattie noticed that no one was with Reid and Amy was gone. This would be the perfect time to talk. "Where's the rest of your team?"

"Morgan and Prentiss are in the field. JJ and Hotch are dealing with the press. Gideon's back at the station and he asked me to come see if there was anything new."

"Sorry to disappoint." Mattie said. She looked back at the board. "Spencer… Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Reid said slightly worried. Something about Mattie's voice was different. It wasn't as warm and bright. "What is it?"

Mattie spun her chair around and looked right at him. "Whose Tobias?"

"How did you…"

"You were crying his name out last night." She took his arm and rolled up his sleeve exposing the track marks. "I assume he has something to do with these and the bruises on your chest."

Reid's eyes dropped to the floor. He had never been more ashamed than at this moment. "Yeah," He withdrew his arm from her and walked over to one of the lab tables turning his back on her.

"You don't have to tell me what happened if you're not ready." Mattie said. She could just tell by his actions that it was a hard topic to talk about.

Reid nodded his head. He would not look at Mattie. How could he? He took one of the molecule models on the table and started to play with it in his hands.

"We had a case in Georgia…" Reid had been so quiet that Mattie was surprised when he started to talk. "JJ and I went to see a witness, Tobias, who turned out to be the murderer. We split up and I ended up being kidnapped." Reid turned around and faced Mattie, but kept avoiding eye contact. "Tobias took me to a cabin and the results are on my chest."

"Where do the track marks fit in with this?"

"Tobias suffered from a split personality disorder. He was himself, his father, and Raphael. When he was himself he gave me Dilaudid." Mattie winced. She had heard of that drug, store bought heroin, and all the horrible affects. "He was trying to help me." Reid looked at her and placed the model on the table. "The problem is every time I try to go to sleep, I'm reminded of what happened."

Mattie stood up going over to Reid. All she wanted to do was hold him. "Is that why you started using it, because it was a way for you to sleep?" Reid nodded his head. "How long have you been using?"

"A little under a month."

"Can I hug you?" Reid nodded his head and Mattie hugged him. She held him tight and rested her head on his chest. "Spencer, David and I love you. We are here for you if you need us. Okay?"

"I know. Thank you." Reid finally said, "I'm sorry."

"I know you are. You should go." Mattie said as she let go of him.

--

Reid had to do something. He knew that doing the drugs was a bad choice; it was only creating a false sense of security for him. At first, the drugs were a way to sleep. Now, his need for a fix was becoming more frequent. Reid had failed to realize how addicted he was until Mattie had pointed it out.

He went up to Gideon. "Can I talk to you?"

Gideon looked up at the young profiler. He had a feeling that something was wrong. "Sure, let's go get some coffee." Gideon watched Reid's nervous actions. "Mattie's charming." Gideon said. He figured it would be easier to talk about something else, until Reid was ready to talk about whatever was bothering him. Reid nodded his head. They sat with their coffees in silence. There were times when Reid tried to talk, but end up closing his mouth. He seemed unable to find the words. "What's bothering you Spencer?"

"I haven't been completely honest with you, or the team." Reid stuffed his hands into his pockets and withdrew a vile. It was the last one he had. "This belongs to you."

Gideon took the vile, looked at it, then at Reid. He was speechless, but stuffed it into his pocket. "You are done with this for good?" Reid nodded his head. "It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back."

"Don't pull anything like this again."

"I won't."

"If you have a problem, you come and talk to me."

"I will."

"I presume that I should be thanking Mattie for bringing you back to us."

"She's made me open my eyes. She challenged me, like always." Gideon noticed how Reid's face slightly glowed when he spoke about Mattie.

"That's why you love her."

Reid looked at Gideon. "You've been talking to you Morgan."

"Even if I had, there's still the point that you are avoiding." Gideon looked at him hard. "Have you ever told Mattie how you feel? Or have you ever asked her?"

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**A/N: I would have had this up earlier, but life took over. I hope you liked the look into Amy's past. David's will be in the next chapter along with some surprises. **


	5. Chapter 5: Revealed

**Chapter 5: Revealed**

"_I don't agree with her half the time, but damn I'm glad she's mine. Her eyes, that's where hope lies. That's where blue skies meet the sunrise. Her eyes, that's where I go when I go home." Pat Monahan, Her Eyes_

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David walked into the Mattie's lab. He knew he should apologize for his behavior on the previous day. It was early, so he figured that he would wait until she showed up, but he was wrong. Asleep, Mattie's head rested on a table.

David shook his head and went over to her. She must have pulled an all-nighter. David lifted Mattie up carried her over to the futon in the lab. It was times like these that how little Mattie weighed amazed him. He felt like he was lifting a young teenager. He laid her down on the futon and watched her curl up.

He walked over to the coffee pot that Mattie kept for emergencies. She only drank coffee when she pulled all-nighters or was extremely tired. He had a feeling that she would be tired today. He had been watching Mattie sleep for a while when Reid walked in.

David signaled Reid to be quiet. "Don't wake her up just yet. She probably fell asleep only an hour or two ago." David went over to the newly brewed pot of coffee. "Do you want some?"

"Sure." Reid took the cup that David offered him and sat down in a chair. Reid took a sip and looked at David. "You suck at making coffee."

"Not you too, I only made it strong, because sleeping beauty over there is going to need it today."

"If you say so," Reid said before taking another sip of his coffee and wincing at how strong it was.

David watched Reid for a few moments. Maybe, it was time he trusted Spencer. "Look, Mattie figures that I should talk to you."

"Why?"

"Well, it seems like you've gotten yourself into a load of trouble. So, I'm going to tell you something and I want you to listen because I am _never_ going to repeat this again."

Reid looked at David. He could tell that David was about to tell him something extremely hard. "I'm listening."

Instead of making eye contact, David watched Mattie sleep. "I told you and Mattie that my parents died in a car accident. Well there is nothing further from the truth. My father had a weakness for booze and cocaine. One night, when I was twelve, my father came home completely strung out. At first, I ignored the yelling and arguing, but then I heard a gun shot. I came out just in time to see my mother hit the floor, blood flowing onto the floor. It is probably the worst thing I have ever seen to this day."

Reid looked at David completely stunned. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Suddenly, David's need to shut out and not trust people made complete sense. "What happened afterwards?"

"Old man almost killed me, but the EMTs came just as I was blacking out. A neighbor had heard the commotion and called the cops. I was put into the foster system, until my grandfather got me out. He finished raising me."

"What about your father?"

"He's serving life in upstate New York. I haven't seen him since I was eighteen." David looked at Reid. "Look Spencer, I don't know how long or what you have been using, but I'm telling you do not make the same mistake that my father did. Don't get so lost that you forget who you are and hurt the people you love. It's not worth it."

Reid nodded his head. "I'm not going to."

"Good." David went back to watching Mattie. "God, she can be such a pain in the ass sometimes."

Reid slightly laughed. "Ah, that is the truth."

"That's probably why we love her."

"Probably," Reid said even though he knew his feelings for Mattie were probably more than friendship love. David cared about Mattie, he saw her as a little sister.

"Well, you might as well wake her up now."

"Me? Oh no, you get to wake her up."

"Wimp."

"No, I just have a brain."

David muttered something under his breath that Reid was unable to hear. He went over to the futon and gently pushed on Mattie's shoulder. "Mattie… time to wake up." Mattie's eyes gently fluttered open. She looked at a smiling David and sat up. "Well, I guess Frankenstein was right."

Mattie glared at David and went over to the coffee machine. She poured herself a cup and drank the coffee black. "You made coffee?" She asked looking at David.

He nodded his head. "Is it strong enough?"

"It works. I figured out what didn't add up in the equation."

"What was it?" Reid asked.

"Human flesh, I forgot to calculate it in earlier."

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"Nothing can break the laws of Physics." Reid said as the team walked into the lab. He was having a heated discussion with Mattie that Amy had somehow managed to be stuck in the middle of.

"Sex does."

"Sure, fetishes and sex toys. Now everything makes sense." Reid joked. He had no idea sex even related to their discussion.

"I'm not talking about people pretending to be something they aren't just so they can have crappy sex."

"How do you know it's crappy?"

Everyone looked at Spencer wondering how much experience he actually had with the subject in question. It was not something anyone ever expected to come out of innocent Dr. Spencer Reid's mouth. "It has to be Spencer; come on it has to be."

"Why?" He asked just to be annoying. He wanted scientific proof and he did not think Mattie had it.

Mattie looked at him. She was up for his challenge. "Why? I'll tell you why. Here we are, all of us, basically alone separate creatures just circling each other; all searching for that slightest hint, of a real connection. Some look in the wrong places. Some they just give up hope because, in their mind they're thinking, oh there's nobody out there for me. But all of us, we keep trying over and over again. Why, because every once and awhile. Every once and awhile, two people meet and there is that spark. And yes, Spencer, he's handsome and she's beautiful, and maybe that's all they see at first, but making love. Making love, that's when two people become one."

Spencer blinked a few times, at what Mattie had said. He tried to keep his voice from going high and ignored the muscle in his neck that was thumping. "It is scientifically impossible for two objects to occupy the same space."

"Yeah, but what is important, is we try, and when we do it right, we get close."

"To what, breaking the laws of Physics?" Reid asked trying to change the subject. It's not that he was uncomfortable about talking about sex. He was just trying to be glib before and it had shot him in the foot. In addition, the very inappropriate thoughts about Mattie and himself in his head were getting in the way.

"Yeah Spencer, a miracle, those people role-playing in their fetishes and their little sex games; it's crappy sex; well at least compared to the real thing." She said with a smile that left him wanting her oh so much more. This conversation was pure pleasurable torture.

"You're right." He had to let her win. She deserved it.

"Yeah but—Wait a second, I just won that argument?" Mattie may have surpassed Spencer in their Chemistry class, but she hardly ever won arguments with him. That was a completely different territory compared to a classroom setting.

"Yup." She had proved her point and it was hard to argue with him. Spencer knew he was slightly blushing so he did not dare look at the team. He did not need Morgan using this against him.

Amy walked past the team and looked at JJ and Prentiss. "Wow, it suddenly got really hot in here." Both of the women turned more scarlet. Amy smiled and walked past them and out of the lab.

"Hello," Mattie said greeting the new people who she had not noticed in her lab until now. "How can I help you?"

"You called saying that you may have new information." Hotch said.

"Ah yes." Mattie said as she remembered why she had called Hotch. "I may not be a profiler, but I have a feeling that you are looking for someone who has a major in Chemistry."

"Why? Can't you just mix chemicals together and get a reaction." Morgan asked.

"No. If you mix two metals together they don't make anything. Not that that means anything to anyone, but me…" Mattie looked disturbed that Morgan had just said that, but she put it to the back of her head. "As I have previously said, the person who did this knows what they are doing. They must have had experience, training, or maybe even worked in the field."

"Mattie, I know this may be difficult to contemplate, but do you think any of the students you teach could be capable of something like this." Gideon asked.

The blood from Mattie's face drained. "Honestly, I'm not sure. There is always the possibility, but… If I'm teaching the student now, they would have to be in one of my Advanced Placement Classes."

"Can we have the roster for your class?"

Mattie looked at Reid, who nodded his head. Mattie went over to her desk and pulled out a list of all of her students. She handed it to Gideon. She didn't think that one of her students was capable of something so horrible, but as a possibility it was a scary thought.

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"Frank Monroe." Hotch asked as he looked at a paper that Morgan handed him at the station.

"I had Garcia crosscheck all of Mattie's students and his name popped a red flag. Look at his record." Morgan said.

"Arrested for petty theft, burglary, and arson all before the age of seventeen. Impressive. Sounds like a suspect. Why don't you bring him for questioning?"

"I'm on it." Morgan said and he pressed speed dial on his cell phone.

"Goddess divine, speak if you must." Garcia said.

"Hey Sugar. Can you get me the address of Frank Monroe? "

"Morgan, you're supposed to ask me something challenging." Garcia complained as she typed the name into the search engine on her computer. "Frank Monroe, a senior at M.I.T. He's lived off campus for the past two years at 1112 Baker Street."

"Thanks sweetness. I'll make it up to you, when we get back." That put a smile on Garcia's face.

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"Presentations." A loud groan came out of the students' in Mattie's class. "No groans or I will be forced to mark people down. Okay, so Frank and Anna will go first."

Frank and Anna went up to the front of the lecture hall and were setting up their presentation when Hotch, the school president, and campus security came in. Mattie looked at them confused. "Excuse us, Professor, but we need Frank."

"I am sorry, but he is presenting right now. Can this wait fifteen minutes?" Mattie asked. She did not like that her class was being interrupted, even if it had to do with the case, which she assumed.

"I'm sorry, but it can't." Hotch said.

"Fine, Frank, you and Anna will present tomorrow then." Frank nodded his head grabbed his backpack and head into the hall. "Brenda and Isabel why don't you set up. I'll be right back." Mattie went out into the hall while her students set up their presentation. In the hall, Morgan was arresting Frank. The team had just crossed a line. "What do you think you are doing?" She asked coming out into the hall.

"We're taking him into custody for possible conspiracy to set the fires." Morgan said. He did not understand why Mattie was so mad.

"No. Let him go!" This was impossible. The team was wrong.

"I'm sorry Professor Adams, but we can't do that." Hotch said. His expression told her to back off.

Mattie shook her head, but backed off. She felt betrayed.

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Mattie was sitting in the lecture hall alone. Her class had ended fifteen minutes ago and she was still mad. The team had no right to come into her class and arrest one of her students, even if they were part of the FBI.

She gathered up her stuff and headed out into the hall. She looked disgusted at the person standing there, Spencer. She looked at him and started to walk down the hall.

Spencer followed her. "Mattie?" She wasn't going to talk to him. "Hey, you can't just ignore me."

"Watch me." Mattie snapped back as slammed the lab door behind her.

Spencer opened the door and followed Mattie into the lab. "Do you honestly think slamming a door in my face is going to work? Mattie we had to arrest him."

"No you didn't. You could have handled it better." She brashly threw her papers on the table.

"He has a record and fits the profile."

"Do you have any proof that he did it? Can you connect Frank to the scene?"

"Not yet." Mattie groaned in frustration and threw her hands up in the air. _Why didn't Spencer see her logic? _"Look you did your job. Why don't you leave the rest to us?"

"Oh, so now I'm just a squint?"

"You aren't a squint."

"Then what am I?" He didn't say anything. Mattie was being unreasonable and Reid didn't want to feed that. "That's what I thought. In the lab, I'm Mattie and in the real world I'm a squint."

"That's not true."

"Then what am I to you?"

"Don't ask me that." He didn't want to answer that. It was too complicated of a question.

Mattie laughed. "Spencer Reid, always running from the truth. Come say it. Say it!" Her voice was rising each second.

"What do you want me to say?"

She looked him right in the eye. "Admit that I'm nothing to you."

"I'm not going to. I won't." He took a step closer to her.

"Why not?" They were standing so close they could feel each other's breath.

"I can't, because I…" Acting on impulse, Reid pulled Mattie's face closer. Then there it was. His lips were pressing hard against hers and she wasn't pulling away.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**A/N: Okay, so because of legality I have to say that I borrowed "squint" and some lines from **_**Bones**_**. It's a good show that I have recently been turned on to. So, what do you think?**


	6. Chapter 6: Complications

**Chapter 6: Complications**

"_I want to kiss like lovers do. I want to dive into your ocean, is it raining with you? So baby talk to me like lovers do. Walk with me like lovers do." Here Comes The Rain Again, __Eurhythmics_

* * *

At first, Mattie was shocked, but then her body began to ease into it. She kissed him back. The kiss was intense and deep. She allowed herself to be lost in the kiss and Spencer's touches. His hands slipped down and landed on her hips.

"Spencer…" He continued to kiss her. Mattie pulled back. "Hi, um… Let's take a step back for a second."

"Do we have to?"

"Are you fondling my hips?" Mattie asked. Spencer shrugged his shoulders, but his expression pleaded guilty. "It…" Breathe. "It feels good."

"Where were we?" He asked as he leaned to kiss her. She placed her fingers on his lips. "What do you want to talk about?" He really did not want to do that overanalyzing thing that people do, but Mattie wasn't giving him any choice. She was playing hard to get.

"Why don't you stand over there and I'll stand over here." Reid nodded his head and walked over to the table Mattie pointed out and she leaned on the table behind her. It put some space between them. "Wow."

"Yeah," Reid said slightly blushing.

"So… What now?"

He took a few steps towards her. "Matilda, what about we don't analyze this, and just go with it?" He looked her in the eyes, placing his hands on her either side of her. He waited while she made a decision.

"Okay," Mattie smiled and leaned into kiss him. Their actions were becoming frenzied as passion ached of their want for each other. Mattie slightly laughed as they bumped into a table.

As hands were starting to get involved, Reid's cell rang. "Ignore it." Breathless Mattie said between kisses. Her hormones were taking over and not seeing logic.

"I can't. Sorry." He said. Mattie looked disappointed as Reid answered his phone. "Hello. No, nothing is wrong. What's going on?" Mattie's lips running down his neck distracted Reid. "Yeah, we'll be there twenty minutes…" He hung up his cell and looked at Mattie. "That was extremely distracting."

"Sorry, but I couldn't help it. What was the call about?"

"Crime scene. There was another fire."

"Did they catch the arsonist?"

"Morgan didn't say."

"We should probably go." Reid nodded his head. "Let me get some sample bags."

* * *

"You don't need to get samples Mattie. We got the guy." Gideon said as he saw Mattie starting to put on gloves.

"Who was it?" Reid asked. Gideon looked at Mattie.

"It's Frank, isn't it?" Mattie asked. Gideon nodded his head. "How?"

"We let him go and followed him here. We were able to put the fire out before any serious damage was caused." Gideon said.

"Can I talk to him?"

"I don't know if that would be a good idea."

"Please, Gideon." He nodded his head. Mattie followed Gideon over to where Frank was being held.

"Professor Adams, what are you doing here?" Frank asked.

"I helped the FBI to catch you. Why Frank? Why did you do it?"

"I was doing what you tell us to do. I was exploring science."

"This isn't exploring science. Killing children by burning them to death isn't exploring science, it's abusing it."

"What about Ezra Powell? Look at what he did."

"Ezra Powell was different."

"No he wasn't. He radiated babies to see what would happen and he discovered ways to help other children from dying of liver failure."

"Still, his actions don't make what he did right."

"He never had any regrets and neither do I."

Mattie looked at Frank. "All you did was murder children. You need help Frank. I only wish I had realized this earlier." She turned to leave.

"There's nothing wrong with me Professor Adams." Frank yelled at her as she was walking away. She didn't look back or answer him she couldn't.

* * *

Mattie was quiet on the way back to the lab. She couldn't believe that Frank would do something that evil. She felt responsible, but something else was bothering her much worse than Frank's actions now.

Mattie walked into the lab and over to the white board erasing all the equations from the case. Reid watched her for a few moments and went over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault."

"I should have noticed something was wrong." She said as she removed herself from his embrace.

He was a little surprised that she had pulled away and walked across the room. "There's no way you could have known this would happen."

"Maybe."

"If you had known, you wouldn't have let it happen. You can't blame yourself."

"You're right. I just feel slightly responsible."

"Don't." He made his way over to her and gently pulled her by the waist over to him. He held her and looked her in the eyes. "You have too great of a heart to do something like that." He leaned in to give her a kiss, but she turned her head to the side. "Mattie?"

She looked at him. Pain was in her eyes. "I can't do this Spencer."

"Oh," His hands dropped away and he backed away from her. He felt like he had been slapped in the face. "Wow… I feel like an idiot."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, so am I. Can I ask why, because before everything was going good."

"Yeah, it was good, but it was fake. It was just chemicals releasing in our brains."

"So you're saying that everything from before was just hormones and… what adrenaline?"

"Exactly."

Reid looked at Mattie shocked. "I don't believe you. In fact, I don't think you believe yourself."

"Well, you can assume all you want, but my mind isn't going to change."

"Everything was going great. You can't tell me you didn't feel anything."

"Yes, I can. Sure, it was great, but now it is gone. Do you know what would happen if we got involved and it went horribly wrong? Everything that we have, our friendship, we'd lose it."

"How do you know it would go wrong? How do you know it wouldn't end well?"

"Our Chemistry is so strong that it would end horribly. Two objects can only collide so many times before one of them disappears."

"So the fact that I have had feelings for you… forever means nothing?"

"We were running off adrenaline, that's it. Once that's gone, we have nothing else."

"So that's it."

"That's it. Now we can just go back to being friends."

"Friends." He hated that word. He didn't want to be her friend. He wanted more and she was denying him that pleasure. "I don't want to be friends. I want you."

His straightforwardness slightly surprised Mattie, but she didn't give in. "Well, you can't have me. I'm sorry."

* * *

Spencer looked out the window on the plane. In the darkness the only thing visible was the light blinking on the plane wing. He was thinking about everything Mattie had said. It still didn't make sense to him.

"Reid, are you okay?" Morgan asked, snapping Reid back to reality.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"It must have been good to see Mattie."

"Yeah, it was great." Reid said, but something in his voice was different. He sounded bitter, which was weird to the team. Gideon noticed that Reid wasn't glowing like before.

"Do you want to play in a hand of poker with us?" Morgan asked. Reid was always good for a hand or two.

Reid shook his head. "I think I'm going to try and get some sleep. Thanks."

"Alright. Are you sure everything is okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired that's all."

"Okay." Morgan went back to playing cards with JJ and Gideon.

"Something happened." Morgan said.

Gideon nodded his head. He watched as his youngest profiler absentmindedly looked out the window. It was as if Spencer was looking to the stars for answers.

* * *

David walked into the bar to see Mattie sitting at the counter. She was sitting there alone with a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass. She wasn't drinking, but just looking at the liquid in the shot glass in front of her.

He went over to her. "Is this seat taken?" She shook her head and David sat down next to her. The barkeeper came over. "Just another shot glass." The barkeeper put one on the bar. "You know sitting in a corner drinking away your sorrows isn't going to solve the problem."

"I don't have a problem. It's just been a long week and I wanted a drink."

"See there is a difference between a drink and a bottle of whiskey." David took the bottle, poured himself a shot, and drank it. "What happened?"

"You are going to hate me."

"Crappy excuse."

Mattie downed her own shot and poured herself another. "Spencer kissed me."

"Well, it's about time! Congrats. You know it took him long enough, I was starting to wonder if he had it in him." David actually looked happy at the news.

"I kissed him back." She downed her shot. "Then I rejected him."

David looked at her. "He just let that pass." She nodded her head. "For geniuses, you two are idiots!"

"Why, because I choose the sane route?"

"You choose the easy path. There's a difference."

"Do you think it was easy to reject him? Well, it wasn't. It hurt like hell. I didn't like seeing all the pain in his eyes, but I can't change the way I feel."

"Spencer loves you."

"We already covered this. Can we move onto something new?"

"Whether you realize it or not, you love Spencer to. Every time he went out with someone, you got jealous. The same happened to him. You two have had feelings for each other forever. What is wrong with you? You must be going insane."

"Maybe I'm not in my right mind. Maybe I am insane, but I don't regret my decision."

"Maybe not now, but you will. Eventually, it will start to wear on you and one day you will realize it's too late. Hopefully, you'll wake up before then."

"You really know how to ruin a good bottle of whiskey."

"Well, that's what I'm here for. To ruin a bottle of whiskey and tell you the truth, because you can't seem to see it."

* * *

**A/N: Ezra Powell is based of a character who appeared in **_**House M.D.**_** PS: Reveiws always make me happy. **


	7. Chapter 7: Never Let Go

**Chapter 7: Never Let Go **

"_No matter what my friends say. I ain't missing you. I ain't missing you. I can lie to myself." Missing You, John Waite_

--

Reid slumped in his chair looking at all of the files on his desk. He knew he should start on his paperwork, but he couldn't seem to focus. His mind kept drifting back to a certain brunette.

The kiss kept running over in his head. He couldn't help but remember how sweet, intense, and pleasurable it was all at the same time. It was a perfect moment in time that was ruined by Mattie's words. He should have seen the rejection coming from the beginning, but he chose to ignore the warnings. He could have sworn that Mattie felt the same as he did. _"Yeah, it was good, but it was fake. It was just chemicals releasing in our brains." _Those words hurt him the most. It was no wonder he never majored in chemistry. It ruined everything.

He was snapped back to reality when he realized JJ was talking to him. "Are you okay Spence?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You just seem a little spacey."

"My mind is just drifting off. I'm back now."

"Visit any place nice." He shrugged his shoulders. "Mattie seems like a good friend."

"Yeah, friend." Reid said. He hated that word. He nodded his head. "I guess." Instead of her just being in his mind she had to come up in conversations as well. It was getting to be too much for him.

JJ saw how Reid's body language had completely changed. "Do you want to go get some food?"

"No thanks. I think I'm just going to go home. I'll see you tomorrow." Reid stood up, gathered up his stuff, and headed for the door.

--

Mattie walked into her lab and turned on the radio. She hated the song that was playing and switched to a different station. She caught the end of a Beatles song and was annoyed by the next song that came on. She continued to switch stations until she finally turned it off. _"What is it, break up song weekend? Where is John Cusack when I need him?"_

She looked at all of the dirty beakers, flasks, and pipettes that were in the sink. She turned on the water and began to clean them. After washing the glassware, she rinsed them with diluted water, and placed them on the drying rack. While those were drying, Mattie began to put away the extra chemicals that had been left out on the tables. Trying to keep herself busy, she tried to grade papers.

Usually, Mattie loved Chemistry. She was easily lost in the world of chemicals and forgot about everything that was bothering her. Today was different. Instead, of letting equations run over in her head, something else was filling her head, particularly the last time she had been in the lab.

Last time she was in the lab, Mattie had said some harsh things. She had rejected Spencer. She had formed excuses to force him away. It was somewhat amazing that she hadn't thought of him since he left. The big bottle of whiskey and hangover probably helped somewhat. That and David had been constantly bothering her throughout the weekend.

Mattie shrugged off the nostalgic feelings, gathered up her stuff, and headed off to her lecture. She wasn't going to think about Spencer or the kiss. If she did, Mattie knew that she would fall apart. Her defenses would fall.

In the lecture hall, Mattie had her students finish their presentations. She paid attention to a point. If she was fully paying attention she would have been marking comments on her grading paper. Instead, the information flowed in one ear and out the other. Mattie heard the information, but her mind kept drifting to the kiss. _"Focus." _She kept telling herself.

--

David was surprised to say the least when Amy came into the lab. He looked at her and put the bottle in his hand down. "Hi."

"Hey. So, Mattie is acting a little strange."

"What do you mean strange?"

"She's miserable. It's as if her puppy died and no one cares."

"Puppy?" David asked. He had a feeling that there was more to that.

"It's an expression."

"Sure," He went back to the computer he had been cleaning. "So, what was your puppy's name?"

"I…" There was no point in arguing with David. "Henry."

"You named your dog Henry?"

"Well, yeah. Why?"

"Nothing. Wow."

"What's wrong with the name Henry?"

"Nothing. It's just… Henry."

"What was your dog's name then?"

"Spot."

"Spot, and your judging me why?"

"I'm not judging you. I'm just…" He was tongue-tied. He hated that. "So, what's going on with Mattie?"

"She's just acting weird. She can't concentrate. Her mind keeps wandering off to outer space or something."

"She's probably reliving her kiss with Spencer." David absent-mindedly said. After, realizing what he had accidentally said David looked up at a wide-eye Amy.

"Dr. Reid and Mattie kissed."

"You didn't hear it from me."

"Now it makes sense why she's so miserable."

"Meaning?" David was interested in what Amy had to say. He knew very little about her personal life. Then again, he never worked with her.

"Pushing someone you love away hurts."

"I'm going to take it you know that from experience."

Amy chose not to respond to David's statement. "What are you doing anyways?"

"Cleaning computers. Another reason I hate PCs. They take forever to clean." David pressed a few buttons on the keyboard before looking at Amy. "Who was he?"

"Sorry?"

"Who did you reject?"

"Which time?"

"You have rejected more than one person in love with you?"

"It's not uncommon in my family. I have to go. I'll see you later." Amy headed towards the door. She had shared too much.

"Wait, you can't just say that and leave. What does that mean?"

Amy looked at David. "They were in love with my family ties not me." Amy was aware that everyone knew her family was well endowed.

--

"Mattie open up." David said as he knocked on the door again.

"Go away." Said Mattie's voice from within the apartment

"Don't make me knock this door down. You know I will if I have to." He heard the door unlock. David opened the door, but Mattie was nowhere to be seen. He saw that her bedroom door barely cracked open. He pushed the door open. Mattie was laying on her bed.

"I let you in, now go away."

"Sorry darling, but that's not how this works." He went over to the window and opened the shades. "Isn't it a nice sunny day?"

Mattie pulled the blankets over her head. She was trying to sleep and David was disturbing her. "Sure, now can you please go?"

David looked at Mattie. "Big Baby." He said before pulling the blankets off the bed.

"Damn it David! Go away!" Mattie yelled at him.

David looked at the sad sight of Mattie. She was in her pajamas and her eyes were red from crying. "You've been crying."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Mattie said as she pelted a pillow at his face. She barely missed.

"Not bad. You need more practice."

"What do you want?"

"Nothing, I just came by to check up on you."

"Well, you've done that. You can go now." Mattie said as she got out of bed and headed towards the kitchen. "I'm pretty sure you know where the door is."

David followed her into the kitchen. Mattie was leaning over the kitchen sink. "Mattie…"

She turned around. "How did it end up like this? It was only a kiss."

"It's never just a kiss. There is always something attached."

"Why do I feel so crappy?"

"I hate to sound cliché, but it doesn't look like it's possible. You're in love."

"Is it supposed to hurt this much?"

"I wouldn't know, but I assume that it hurts because you're not with Spencer."

"I have no idea of what to do."

"Go see him."

"What? I can't."

"Actually, you can because I already arranged it for you. I'll see you Monday."

"Thanks David." David shrugged his shoulders as if he hadn't done anything. He just hoped it wasn't too late.

--

Mattie looked around the office. _"So this is where Spencer works?"_ She thought. She had yet to see him, not that she was sure that she wanted to see him. Truth be told, Mattie was scared to death.

She had never really thought about Spencer other than as a friend until lately. He loved her and she… Well, there was still time to think about her feelings. Mattie knew she had strong feelings for him. It's not like she cried her eyes out over many men.

"Hey Mattie. What are you doing here?" Morgan asked.

She slightly jumped. She had been thinking so much that she hadn't noticed him. "Hi Morgan. I was in town this weekend and thought I'd see Spencer."

"Right." He didn't really believe that she was just in town, but he'd let it slide. Morgan had a feeling that Mattie had to do with Reid's quieter moods lately. "He's right over there." Morgan pointed to a young profiler who was doing paper work.

Mattie nodded her head. _Why was she suddenly nervous?_ She wanted to walk away. That probably was not the best idea. "Thanks Morgan." Mattie said before heading over to Spencer. "Hi."

Spencer was surprised and slightly confused by the person standing in front of him. "Hi. Uh… What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. Is there somewhere we could possibly talk, privately?"

"Yeah, this way." She followed him to the conference room. "What's going on?"

Deep breath. "I miss you." He opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him. "Let me. Before, I took everything out on you. I was upset because of Frank and… I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted." He said, unsure of where the conversation was going. Mattie was clearly not finished.

"I lied to you. The truth is, I've been in love with you since I was sixteen. I love you." There she had said it.

**--**

**A/N: Hello people! Okay, so play on Mathew Gray Gubler, because apparently he is the real Mr. Brightside. Other than that I have an announcement. This story will be ending in a few more chapters. Until next time, blackend.**


	8. Chapter 8: A Little Time

**Chapter 8: A Little Time**

"_If I'm going away your heart's coming too. Cause I miss your hands I miss your face. When I get back let's disappear without a trace." Ten Days, Missy Higgins_

* * *

"I miss you." He opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him. "Let me. Before, I took everything out on you. I was upset because of Frank and… I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted." He said, unsure of where the conversation was going. Mattie was clearly not finished.

"I lied to you. The truth is, I've been in love with you since I was sixteen. I love you." There she had said it. Now she was just waiting for him to say something. "Spencer?"

His expression was sad. "Mattie…. You were right, before. We can't go there."

She was unsure of how to react. He was rejecting her. "Oh…"

"I'm sorry, it's just, everything you said started to make sense to me."

"Yeah," Everything had just backfired on her. "You know what? Don't worry about it. You're probably right. It wouldn't have worked out. You work here and I… Well, I'm a teacher."

"Mattie."

"Yeah,"

"You're rambling."

"Yes. Yes I am. This is awkward. I'm going to go." Mattie quickly left the room and headed for the door.

Spencer watched as she walked out the door. He kept trying to justify his actions, but it didn't work. "Crap!" He only hoped there was still time to catch her.

"Reid, where are you going?" Morgan asked as Reid ran past him.

"I need to fix something. I'll be back." He impatiently stood in the elevator. "Come on." He finally arrived on the right floor. He got out of the building and saw that Mattie was very close to her car. "Mattie!" He yelled as he ran towards her. She had not heard him. "Mattie!"

She turned around the second time. She stopped and looked at the strange sight. "Spencer it's fine really." She was determined not to cry in public, but any moment and she would crack. "What are you doing?" She asked as he stopped in front of her.

"I'm fixing a mistake." He stepped in closer, trapping her body between him and the car. Then he kissed her.

Without giving him a chance to change his mind, Mattie deepened the passionate kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him closer making sure that he would not escape from her grasp. She had let that happen once, that was a mistake. She was never going to make that mistake again.

The lack of oxygen finally broke them apart, but it wasn't for very long. "I was an idiot before." Reid said.

"So much for genius." Mattie said with a grin before going back to where they had left off. The two were very content with making out in front of the car until someone made a coughing noise. The two stopped kissing and looked at the cougher in question.

"Hotch!" Reid said. This was definitely not one of his finer moments, considering he had lipstick all over his mouth.

"Reid… Mattie…" Mattie blushed and looked at the ground. Hotch looked directly at Reid. "I don't want to see you until Monday."

"I have paper work and…" Both Mattie and Hotch were looking at Reid as if he had just gone insane. He sensed it better not to argue. "Monday then." When Hotch was gone, Reid looked at Mattie.

"You wanted to give me up for paperwork."

"No, I just… How can I make it up to you?"

"We have all weekend. I'll think of something." Mattie said with a devious smile.

"We need to get out of here now."

"I'm glad you picked up on that."

* * *

They had barely gotten through the door with their frenzied movements. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that a trail of thrown clothes led to the bedroom in Reid's apartment. Or that two people now lay tangled in the sheets of the bed, all the sexual tension that had existed between them, gone.

Nothing seemed to matter to Spencer, except that Mattie's bare body was curled up against his. He loved the feeling and never wanted to let it go. To be more precise, he did not want to let go of the person he was holding.

Mattie rolled over and looked at her lover. She cuddled closer to him.

"So you've really been in love with me since you were sixteen?" Spencer asked. He was still finding it somewhat hard to believe.

"Yep, it just took awhile for me to realize it. Sorry it took so long."

"I'm just happy that you realized it now and not in thirty years."

"I heard this rumor that you've been in love with me forever. What's that about?"

"Good question. In all honesty, I have no idea. I think it had something to do with a beautiful and intelligent girl in my AP Chemistry class."

"Well, that would explain it. Chemistry, that is one powerful force."

"Technically it is not a force."

"Right, I forgot I was talking to someone with a Physics degree. Then what is Chemistry Dr. Reid?"

"It's what we've got." Spencer said as he gently stroked the side of her face.

"What would that be?" Mattie asked, pleasurably shivering at his touch.

"Everything and nothing, love," he began to gently caress the woman he loved with his lips.

* * *

"Good morning sunshine." Reid said as he kissed Mattie's cheek the next morning.

Mattie opened her eyes and looked at the fully clothed figure sitting next to her. "You're dressed." Mattie said groggily.

"I figured that it would probably be better to get dressed this morning before I went out. I don't think my neighbors would appreciate the view of me in the buff, but I could be wrong."

Mattie slightly laughed. It wasn't a bad mental image. "What time is it?"

"Almost eleven." Okay, it wasn't as early as she had thought. She was going to have to remember that he got up early on Saturdays. "I got you tea and a cinnamon roll at Starbucks."

Mattie sat up keeping the sheet wrapped around her, and took the offering. "Thank you." She pulled Spencer by the tie and gave him a sweet kiss. "Morning."

Reid smiled and looked down at his coffee after Mattie stopped kissing him. "This is really happening,"

"Yes, it is. Spencer…" Mattie brought his chin up so they were looking each other in the eyes. "If you are worried that I'm going to leave, don't be, because I'm not giving you up without a fight."

"That's good, because I was planning on putting up a strong fight for you."

"That's a good plan. Why didn't you wake me up this morning? I would have gone out with you."

"You looked way too peaceful and beautiful to wake. Plus, it was my turn to surprise you this morning."

"What's with the tie? You look like you are going to work."

"I like this tie."

"It's Saturday. You look like you are going to work, when in fact, you are spending the day with me."

"About today, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know. What does a profiler like yourself do on Saturdays?"

"If I am here, I usually catch up on errands and stuff. Nothing very important or interesting now that I think about it."

Mattie grabbed Spencer's dress shirt from the day before off the floor and slipped it on. "I need to take a shower, so, what about I leave you in charge of making plans, while I get ready."

"Sure." Reid said as he watched Mattie walk away in his shirt. It looked good on her.

* * *

"You had to admit the special effects were good." Reid said as they walked out of the movie theater.

"Yes. Good effects, but a terrible script." Mattie started to laugh as she remembered a particular scene.

Reid smiled and casually wrapped his arm around her waist. "Okay, I'll admit the script was badly written. So, I'll add that to the list of things never to do."

"Don't do that or we will miss out on all the great crappy movies out there." Mattie noticed how Spencer wrapped his arm around her. She liked it.

"Missing crappy movies would be a bad thing how?"

"It would be bad because we would miss out on what people in the country are watching. Plus, they make great making out movies."

Spencer chuckled. "I'll have to remember that."

"So, what's next?"

"Next?"

"For the evening. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot."

"Mattie, stop apologizing."

"Sorry…It's a habit. Why don't you let me buy you a piece of pie?"

"Blueberry?"

"Yes, we can get blueberry."

"Deal."

* * *

It was probably the lack of a warm body that woke Mattie or the sound of someone throwing up. Mattie rolled over and looked at the clock. It was three in the morning, which would not have been a problem, if she had not only fallen asleep a few hours ago. She got up and went to the bathroom.

Spencer was leaning over the toilet throwing up, when he felt a hand rub his back. When he was done, the flushed the toilet and looked at Mattie. She was sitting on the floor next to him. "Do you feel better?"

"Not really." He was covered in a cold sweat.

Mattie pushed some lose strands of hair out of his face. "How long have you been going through withdrawal?"

"Today has been the worst. There were a few moments, but nothing this bad." His face turned a light shade of green. Instead of throwing up he was dry heaving.

Mattie just continued to rub his back. She knew that this was just the beginning. As Spencer continued to go deeper into withdrawal, it was only going to get worse. Drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and Dilaudid were the worst to come off of, just because of the pain. However, there was an up side. At least the withdrawal wouldn't be as bad as if he were coming off of heroin.

"Is it supposed to hurt this much?" Spencer asked after he was done.

"Do you want the truth?"

"Yes."

"It's going to get worse."

"Great. Next time, don't tell me the truth." He realized that he had snapped at Mattie. He hadn't meant to do that. "I'm sorry. Let me just rinse out my mouth and I'll meet you in bed." Mattie nodded her head and went back to bed. Reid rinsed out his mouth and looked in the mirror. He'd known this was going to happen, he just wished it wasn't. He laid down next Mattie and put an arm around her. "Mattie."

"Don't Spencer. Just close your eyes and go to sleep." She knew what he was going to say, but she was not in the mood.

"Mattie…When I go to rehab…"

"I know about the steps." Suddenly without warning, Mattie grabbed her pillow and hit Spencer with it.

"What was that for?" He asked stunned, but she just hit him with it again. "Mattie?"

"You are a jerk. I hope you know that." She lay back down, but with a little distance between her and Spencer. Then she turned over and looked him in the face. "You are an idiot! Do you really think that I'm not going to stick by you when you are in rehab? Well, too bad because I'm going to be there every step of the way. No matter how hard it gets."

"Okay."

"Good. Now, for one more night I'd like to lie and hold you."

"Come here." He stretched out his arms. Mattie moved over to him. They laid there holding each other, sleeping in the embrace of the one they loved.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so I actually looked up the withdrawl symptoms of Dilaudid and it's crazy. Basically, pain. A lot of pain. The lesson here is: NEVER do drugs. I'm unsure when I'll have the last installment up, because I have finals. Sorry, but it is not my fault that teachers want to make my life cramped. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. **


	9. Chapter 9: Love Force

**Chapter 9: Love Force**

"_Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within" –James Baldwin_

--

Reid rolled over and turned the blaring alarm clock off. He groggily got out of bed. He was always a mess without Mattie in the morning. He was so used to waking up with her. It was weird not having her around the apartment.

He walked into the kitchen where David and Morgan were sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee. Neither was very awake, which was not a surprise because of the party from the night before. "Who made coffee? Reid asked.

"I did." Morgan said.

"Thank God, I don't think I could stand David's." Morgan's coffee was more appetizing than David's to say the least.

David rolled his eyes. He did not feel like arguing now. "Are you ready for today?"

Reid leaned up against the counter and drank his coffee. "I don't think anyone is ever ready."

Morgan and David looked at him. David laughed, "Just admit it, you are stoked about today."

"Okay, I'm excited, but I'm also really nervous."

"You'll get up there and everything will fall into place."

"You're right. I'm just nervous for no reason. I'm going to go get ready." Reid said as he finished off the rest of his coffee. David was right there was no reason for Reid to be nervous. The hard part was already done.

--

Three months earlier…Reid was gathering up the rest of his stuff for the weekend. He went over the list in his head again to make sure he had everything. "So Reid, what's on your agenda for the weekend?" Morgan asked as he started to gather up his stuff.

"I'm going up to Boston." Reid said with a smile. It was part of his routine now. Ever since he had gotten out of rehab three months ago, he and Mattie had been spending more time together. Depending on the weekend, Reid would go up to Boston or Mattie would come down to see him.

"Say hi to Mattie for me."

"I will."

"Are you two going to do anything special?"

"Yeah, I'm…" Reid took a small black box out of his pocket and put it on the table.

Morgan took the box and opened it. Inside was a simple, but elegant engagement band. "You know Reid I like you, but you're not my type." Morgan joked. Reid rolled his eyes.

"Do you think she'll like it?"

"I think she'll love it. Wow, you are going to propose that's great."

"It's been on my mind for awhile. I figured she stuck with me through everything. I might as well show her how much she means to me."

"Well, good luck."

"Thanks, knowing Mattie I'm going to need it." Reid joked.

--

Reid walked into Mattie's lab to see her taking off her goggles and apron. Her class must have been doing an experiment. Only two of her students were still in the lab. Mattie was putting chemicals away. "Professor Adams, what chemical was mixed with cadmium nitrate to make the yellow precipitate?" One of the students asked.

"Sodium sulfide." Mattie said. "Therefore, the yellow precipitate is cadmium sulfide." Mattie mixed two clear solutions sitting on the counter and a yellow precipitate formed.

Seeing the perfect moment, Reid quietly walked up behind her and quietly tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped and turned around. "Hi."

"Spencer Reid! I should so kick your ass right now."

"Where is your sense of fun?"

"Fun doesn't include me spilling sodium sulfide on you. It's an irritant."

"Ah, so she does admit caring about me." He joked.

"Don't be a brat." Mattie noticed that her students were looking at her. "Are you two almost finished with collecting your data yet?"

"Yes." One of the students said. She was acting as the spokesperson for the other student.

Mattie looked at Reid. "Do you mind helping me? Or are you just going to cause trouble all night?"

"I'll help you. What do you need me to do?"

She pointed to some pipettes in small cups. "Pour the liquids down the sink and rinse them out." Reid did as he was instructed, while Mattie finished putting other chemicals away.

"See you on Monday Professor Adams." The students said as they were walking out the door.

"Have a nice weekend girls." Mattie said. "Spencer, just give me a few moments and I'll be ready to go."

"Okay." Reid said as he finished the task that Mattie had given him.

Mattie was closing the cabinet of chemicals when she felt two arms wrap around her waist. She turned around and looked at Spencer. "Hi." She wrapped her arms around his neck.

He leaned down and kissed her. "I missed you."

"I missed you to. So where did you go this week?"

"Texas."

"Cows…"

"Southern Texas."

"Oh, well that makes all the difference. San Antonio is beautiful. So are you ready to go?"

"Am I ready? I think I was the one waiting on you."

"It's not my fault that my students took forever getting their data."

"Well, maybe if you did not give them so much work they wouldn't be here so late."

"It's a chemistry class. They are supposed to work. Unlike in physics when you do nothing but launch things."

"Technically, it's called a projectile and people do work in physics."

"I'll let you keep believing that."

"Hey, if there wasn't physics, the Spiderman movies wouldn't exist."

"Fine, you have me there. I can't really argue about comic books." Mattie chuckled. She walked over to her desk and grabbed her bag.

"Just for that, I'm going to have to rent the movies and make you watch them."

"I am so scared." Reid smiled as he watched Mattie. He was desperately in love with her. "Are you okay Spencer?"

"I'm fine. I'm just admiring you in all of your beauty."

"Flattery isn't going to get you anywhere." She wasn't sure what his plan was, but she wasn't going to give in so easy.

"Oh really, because last time flattery worked very well in my favor." He said with a grin.

"I didn't just have sex with you because of flattery, but good try. Come on, we need to leave soon if you want to get to the movie place and get sushi to go." She stood by the door ready to leave.

"I hate chopsticks."

"You can use a fork."

"Mattie…"

"Seriously Spencer, I'm starving."

"Come here." He waved her over to him.

"Fine." Mattie came over to the lab table and sat on one of the stools. "This had better be good."

"It is." He took her hands in his and looked her in the eyes. "Mattie, we've been through a lot. You've been there for me numerous times and…" He was extremely nervous.

"Spencer, are you sure that everything is okay? You're making me nervous babe."

He figured why not just go for it. He got down on one knee. "Matilda Adams, will you do the honor of marrying me?"

Mattie blinked a couple of times, trying to comprehend what had just happened. "What?"

Reid stood up. That wasn't the reaction he had been hoping for. "I asked you to marry me."

"I thought that's what you asked." Mattie said quietly.

"Uh, will you marry me?" Now she was making him nervous.

"Yes! Of course I will." Mattie pulled him close and passionately kissed him. Any doubt that had been in his mind was now gone.

--

Reid walked up to Mattie as she sat talking to her brothers, Andy and Zack. "Sorry, to disturb but I was wondering if I could steal my wife for awhile." He loved saying that, Mattie was his wife. Andy and Zack nodded their heads. "Thank you."

Mattie stood up and smiled, wondering what her husband was plotting. "What are you up to?" He had that smile on his face as if he was plotting something.

"Nothing. I just wanted to steal you for a dance."

"Oh really, are you going to tell me what song you chose?" She had let him pick the song for their first dance and he had been keeping it a secret.

"No, it's a surprise." He said as he spun her and brought her close as the first notes began to play.

"You've been saying that for the last couple of weeks." No matter what she had tried, he would not budge.

"Well, you can hear it now. Just listen to the words."

_Two hearts fading, like a flower. And all this waiting, for the power. For some answer, to this fire. Sinking slowly. The waters higher. Desire. Desire. _

Mattie looked at Spencer and gently kissed him. "It's perfect."

"I was hoping you would like it." He said as he dipped her and brought her back up.

"Where did you learn to dance?"

"I have many hidden talents."

"And I've got forever to figure them out."

_With no secrets. No obsession. This time I'm speeding with no direction. Without a reason. What is this fire? Burning slowly. My one and only. Desire. Desire. Desire. Desire. _

"Is it me or do they just look way too picture perfect?" Amy asked as she sat at one of the tables watching the newly married couple enjoy their first dance.

"No, they are picture perfect." David said.

"It must be the dress."

"The dress?"

"Look at it. She looks stunning in it." Mattie's dress was gorgeous. The bodice clung to Mattie's thin form perfectly. The skirt of dress wrapped around a dropped waist and created a perfect ballroom gown.

David looked at Amy. "You are a romantic."

Amy slightly laughed. "I'm really not. It's just hard to deny the truth."

David watched Amy. He thought he might as well take a leap of faith. For all his preaching to Mattie, he never took the chances that he should. It was time he did. "Maybe, I could buy you a drink sometime?" Amy looked at him and around making sure he was talking to her. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure you were talking to me."

"You did not answer my question."

Amy had a mischievous smile on her face. "Maybe."

_You know me. You don't mind waiting. You just can't show me, but God I'm praying that you'll find me and that you'll see me, that you run and never tire. Desire. Desire. Desire. Desire. _

"Are you happy?" Mattie asked as they danced to last few measures of the song.

"More happy than can ever be imagined. How about you Mrs. Reid, are you happy?"

Mattie smiled. "Happy doesn't even come close to how I am feeling." She kissed him. "You make me feel loved."

Mattie rested her head on his shoulder and Reid held her tight. Nothing in the world was better at that moment. He might just have to admit that love was the best force out in the world.

_FIN_

**--**

**A/N: Well, this story has now ended. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did writing it. If anyone is interested in a sequel, let me know. I'm starting to throw around ideas, but I can't promise anything. Special thanks to REIDFANATIC for being a wonderful beta reader!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except characters not in the show Criminal Minds. **

"**How did it end up like this? It was only a kiss." Mr. Brightside, The Killers**

"**Well, one more night I'd like lie and hold you." Stevie Nicks, If You ever Did Believe**

**Desire belongs to Ryan Adams and who ever produced it. **


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